Exhibition: Jul 16 at common room 2: A Guide to Combustible City

A Guide to Combustible Cityï¿½is made of five printed tours of New York City whichï¿½illustrate Michael Serres' thesis that ï¿½objects are flames frozen by different time-scales.ï¿½ï¿½These tours demonstrate, at four different spatial scales,ï¿½the agency of combustion in shaping the cityï¿½s architecture, infrastructure and imaginary. The tours traverse, for instance, the perimeter of the great fire of 1835, exemplary sandstone buildings, the former sites of fire towers in Manhattan, the banality of fire prevention in the everyday, the regional water system, and fire-prevention models at Randallï¿½s Island. Additionally, the tours recount the history of the fireproof building, the epistemological relationships between panoramas, hot air balloons and fire towers, the changing shape of water in the city, and the hyperreality of prevention. Together, these tours reveal another city nested within New York City, a city in plain view but rarely considered; this city is co
nstituted by and through the management and care for its own inherent fragility, this city is named Combustible City.

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The five tours will be on display at common room 2. A limited number of copies will be available to take away.

-- common room 2
www.common-room.net

465 grand street, rear lobby, ny 10002
+1 212 358 8605

open hours: mon-fri 9am - 6pm
or by appointment

Directions:
Take F train to East Broadway stop. Exit at rear of platform if coming downtown or front of platform if coming from Brooklyn. Walk East on East Broadway just past Pitt Street. Use Rear Entrance on East Broadway.